I have not travelled with my family since Brexit happened and the big difference is having to now get multiple visas whereas in the past one would have sufficed. Does kind of suck, but I do understand why being separate from Europe was important. The only disappointing part is there seems to be no difference due to having a weak UK Government and that includes both the Conservatives and Labour Party.
So far it has taken me over 4 months to get all the paperwork in place so my family can travel to the UK and France. This is not a family holiday as this is about seeing my mom who is unfortunately not well. The French leg of the trip is on the way back and that is more about relaxing and shopping for a few days.
Today it was visa application day working through companies and not the British Embassy or Consulate like I did the last time. They have closed down since then and now you use a third party which is not ideal. There are 7 of us travelling and 4 of the 7 require visas for entering the UK and France. The one thing you soon realise is how crappy the SA Passport is and it offers absolutely no benefit. I need to get my grandkids on to their own British passports as soon as this trip is over. I will also get my EU passport to go along with my British just in case.
First up was the French which offered the normal online applications, but also requiring an interview date. In the past I have just arrived and there has been no waiting involved yet now they have specific booking times. The online site stated that they could see me in two weeks time (3rd May) which is past the planned date of travel by 7 days with our scheduled departure being the 26th April. I competed the online applications and phoned getting an appointment for the 23rd after having to pay for a Platinum upgrade setting me back $200 for this privilege. This trip is not about the money and is about seeing family so to save an extra 10 days I saw no other choice.
The British visa was next which my daughter is doing and they stated 3 weeks after your appointment so I am holding my thumbs and crossing my fingers we can make the planned timeline which is drawing ever so close. The only problem I see is each country requires the passport in order to stamp and have given up on the idea of travelling on the 26th and it is looking realistically more like mid to the end of May. This of course can be sped up if you are willing to pay and noticed on the British visa site that they have a fast tracking VIP service costing an extra $250 per person.
This is completely crazy by he time this has all been completed the entire process would have taken 6 months. Every part of this process has had a road block of sorts and the online process one would have thought sped the process up but due to red tape and their regulations actually slows this all up.
The third parties handling this visa process do have certain packages that one can pay extra and I do get the impression they want you to select this option because this is all about making money and not providing a service until you pay the extras/upgrade. This is a great business model if you own the business, but not if you require a visa. Why do I get this feeling that this has been done on purpose and the UK Government is making more than they should from this otherwise why would they allow this to even exist.
The crazy comparison is thousands are crossing the borders illegally every week costing the tax payers money and those trying to travel legally spending money booking hotels etc adding to the economy are having to go through the mill in order to travel.